Sealed beam lighting unit



June 26, 1956 R. N. FALGE SEALED BEAM LIGHTING UNIT Filed July 3, 1953 INVENTOR flvinf/Yizr 2 ATTORNEY United States Patent SEALED BEAM LIGHTING UNIT Robert N. Falge, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application July 3, 1953, Serial No. 365,815

Claims. (Cl. 240-41) This invention relates to vehicle lamps and has particular relation to an improved connector structure for use with sealed beam lighting units supported within a lamp casing of particular design.

This case is a continuation-in-part of application No. 296,889 filed July 2, 1952.

It has recently been the trend to design vehicle fog lamps, driving lamps, and similar devices with shallow casings. This type design not only afiords a lamp of pleasing appearance, but also in many instances is necessitated by the lack of sufiicient space on modern vehicles for mounting lamps of the conventional design having a deep casing. In these conventional deep casing lamps the electrical connector assembly for the sealed beam lighting unit usually consists of a socket structure which extends to the rear of the lighting unit for some distance toward the rear wall of the casing. When a shallow casing is used, however, such structure is not possible because of the lack of space between the rear of the light unit and the rear wall of the casing. Thus, other types of connector means had to be designed. It has been suggested to use various types of socket structures in which the electrical contacts extend laterally or to the sides of the rear portion of the lighting unit where sufficient space is available. Such structure is, however, relatively expensive and thus increases the cost of the shallow casing type lamp.

It is an object of this invention to provide electrical connector means for a shallow casing type lamp which is durable and which is both simple in construction and economical. Another object of the invention is a provision of a sealed beam type lighting unit for use in shallow casing lamps in which electrical connector means for the lamp is furnished as a permanently secured part of the sealed beam unit.

These objects are carried out in accordance with the invention by providing a connector which consists of a length of insulated conductor wire, one end of which is fixedly held in electrical contact with the sealed beam unit and the other end of which is provided with a detachable electrical connector positioned within the lamp casing, the lamp end of the wire being anchored to the sealed beam contact at a plurality of points.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following description of the preferred embodiment and from the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a side view with parts broken away and in section of a fog lamp embodying the invention; and

Figure 2 is a rear view with parts broken away of the lamp shown in Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing,

Figure 1 shows a lamp having a cup-shaped shallow metallic casing 3 in the open end of which is mounted a sealed lighting unit 4 which consists of a lens 5 permanently sealed to a metal parabolic reflector 6 and a light source 7 positioned between the reflector and lens, the electrical contacts of which extend through the crown 8 and to the exterior of the reflector where one contact is grounded through the reflector 6 to the lamp casing, and the other terminates in a contact button 9. A bezel 10 fits over the sealed light unit and is secured to the casing by conventional screw attachment means cooperating with casing support plate 14, thereby retaining the sealed unit within the casing. A support member 16 is provided on the casing for attachment to the vehicle.

Because of the shallow design of the casing, the electrical contact button of the unit extends to a position adjacent the rear Wall 17 of the casing, thus precluding the use of conventional socket type electrical connectors.

In accordance with this invention the light source consists of a conventional double contact bulb as indicated at 7. As is clearly shown in Figure 1, the bulb is provided with a plurality of contact buttons 9 and 11, only one of which is electrically connected to the bulb filament. As shown on the drawing, contact button 9 is connected with one end of the filament, the other end being grounded to the lamp casing 3 through the reflector 6. Contact button 11 is an extra contact, a dummy contact, and functions solely as an anchor point for a conductor wire 18.

I have discovered that the frequent failure of the sealed beam units used in lamps such as herein disclosed is due to the fact that the connection of wire 18 to only contact button 9 in a plane generally transverse to the axis of the light bulb causes the button 9 to be pulled out of the bulb base when the Wire is put under tension. It appears that in such a connection the contact acts as a cantilever in the bulb base and application of relatively small forces through the wire breaks the base and tears loose the contact.

I am able to use the transverse connection of the wire to the bulb contact Without danger of pulling the contact from the base by use of the double contact bulb hereinbefore described. Filament contact button 9 and dummy button 11 are interconnected by a bridge of soldering or brazing material 12 thus establishing two anchor points for the connecting wire. Wire 18, provided with a covering of insulation, is then fixedly secured at one end as shown at 19 by brazing, soldering, or other means to the bridge 12. In this manner any load applied to the wire 18 is transmitted to the two anchor points which act together to absorb the contact uprooting force. The other end of this length of conductor wire is provided with a contact element of a detachable electrical connector 21. Another contact element of the connector 21 is secured in electrical contact with an insulated conductor 23 which extends through a hole 24 in the casing to the exterior thereof to establish contact with the battery or other electrical power source of the vehicle. The particular construction of the detachable connector forms no part of this invention and may be any of the commercially available types suitable for the purpose.

The length of the wire 13 must be suflicient to allow removal of the sealed beam unit from the casing without breaking the electrical connection established by the connector 21. If the sealed beam unit becomes defective so that replacement is necessary, the old unit may be detached by first removing the bezel 1t) and the unit 4 from the casing 3 and then breaking the electrical connection at the connector 21. The new unit is inserted by first establishing the electrical connection at the connector 21 and then positioning the unit within the casing 3 and attaching the bezel 10 to the casing.

The replacement sealed beam units may be furnished with the conductor wire 18 and connector contact element secured thereto or, alternatively, the conductor wire from the burned out unit may be cut away from the old unit and soldered or brazed to the new one.

While the embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. .In a lamp of the type having acasing and a-sealed lighting unit supported .within said casing, a light .bulb supported within said lighting unit the base of said bulb having a plurality of anchorrelements, one of said elements being the electrical contact of said bulb, at least one other of said elements being a dummy contact, a bridge element interconnecting said electrical and dummy contacts and connecting means for said lighting unit comprising an insulated electrical conductor wire having an end fixedly secured to said bridge element and in electrical connection therewith and with said electrical contact, the other end being secured toa detachable electrical conhector device positioned within said casing, said wire being of suflicient length to allow the removal of said sealed unit from said casing without breaking the electrical connection at said device.

2. A lamp for vehicles and the like comprising a shallow cup-shaped metal casing, a sealed lighting unit grounded to said casing and positioned in the open end thereof, said unit having a lens and a metal reflector permanently secured together and a lighting element between said lens and said reflector with one contact grounded through said reflector to said casing and another contact extending to the exterior of said reflector and terminating in a contact button, said contact button being positioned adjacent a Wall of said casing, a dummy button on said lighting element adjacent said contact button, a metallic bridge connecting said buttons, an elongated insulated electrical conductor having one end fixedly secured to said bridge at substantially the middle thereof in a plane generally transverse .to the longitudinal axis 'of said lighting unit and being in electrical contact with described comprising a lens and a metal reflector secured together to form a permanently sealed unit, a light source within said unit and having one electrical contact grounded to said reflector and another contact extending to the exterior of said reflector and terminating in a contact button, a dummy button on said light source adjacent said contact button, a bridging element connecting said buttons, and an insulated wire conductor having one end fixedly secured to said element and in electrical contact therewith and with said contact button, said conductor being detachably connected at the other end to an electrical connector.

4. A sealed lighting unit for use in a lamp of the type described comprising a lens anda metal reflector secured together to form a permanently sealed unit, a light source Within said unit and having one electrical contact grounded to said reflector and another contact extending to the exterior of said reflector and terminating in a contact button, a dummy button on said light source adjacent said contact button, an electrically conductive bridging element connecting said buttons, and an insulated wire conductor having one end-fixedly, secured to said element at substantially themiddle thereof and in electricalcontact with said contact button, said conductor being detachablyconnected at the other end to an electrical connector.

5. A lighting unit for use in a lamp comprising a light element within said unit and having one electrical contact adapted to beconnected toground and another contact extending to theexterior thereof and terminating in a contact button, ,a dummy button on said lighting unitadjacent said contact button, and an electrical conductive bridging element connected to said buttons, said element being adapted to have a wire conductor fixedly secured thereto and in electrical contact therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,713 Stearns Jan. 20, 1914 1,193,724 Skelton Aug.8, 1916 1,992,041 Roper et al. 'Feb. 19, 1935 2,190,528 Wright Feb. 13, 1940 2,317,035 Dana Apr. 20, 1943 2,508,063 Gross May 16, 1950 

